Tag Archives: Less is More

less wine brand launched, focuses on sustainability, less bottle, less paper …. and more!

 

Last week I met with Marlene Truter, owner of the new wine brand less, with Chardonnay 2021 and Pinotage 2020 cultivars. Its focus is more on sustainability, being sustainably grown, containing less alcohol, and uses the lightest glass bottles available.

The sustainability also pertains to the employee ethics, and so Marlene had a difficult task to find a wine producer who met her sustainability criteria, and would make the wine available in a smaller quantity, as she is starting off from scratch. Viljoensdrift in Robertson was chosen as a partnership that created an excellent fit, given her less brand values. Continue reading →

Zest Restaurant introduces Spring Menu : 5 courses at R198!

 

Newly opened Zest Restaurant has introduced a value-for-money Spring Menu consisting of five courses, and costing only R198. It is available until 30 September.

Zest is an Asian-Mediterranean fusion restaurant which cooks its meat, fish, and vegetables on an open fire grill. The Kameeldoring wood used for the fire adds a special aroma to the foods cooked on it.

Zest owner is Chef Pavel Dimitrov, current co-owner of Utopia Cape Town, and former partner in Pigalle and NV-80. He believes in Less is More, with only a few ingredients in each dish, and he does not use smears, foams, or gels in his plating. Local and Fresh is Best is the Zest mantra. Continue reading →

Chenin Blanc Association announces 2014 Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge winners!

Chenin Blanc Top 10 Logo Whale CottageThe inaugural Standard Bank Chenin Blanc Top 10 Challenge winners were announced yesterday at a cosy function on a wet Winelands day at the ever smart Delaire Graff.  The function and competition, combined with the recent three-year sponsorship by Standard Bank of the Chenin Blanc Challenge, are giving Chenin Blanc the recognition it deserves, said Ken Forrester, Chairman of the Chenin Blanc Association.  ‘Chenin Blanc is a wine whose time has come’, he said,Chenin Blanc Top 10 Ken Forrester Whale Cottage adding that ‘Chenin Blanc is THE white wine of South Africa‘!

A total of 126 wines was entered for the Challenge, and assessed blind by a panel of judges which included chairman Christian Eedes, Jamie Goode, Alan Mullins, Carrie Adams, and Higgo Jacobs. Interviews were conducted with the judges,  Allan Mullins of Woolworths saying that Chenin Blanc has been underrated for so long. He lauded Standard Bank for the support of the competition, and as Chenin Blanc drinks so well, it should be drunk by all.  It is a gem of a wine variety, and ranges in price between R25 – R 300 in retail outlets.   British wine writer Jamie Goode said that our country has a variety of Chenin Blanc styles, ‘ranging from the ‘VW Beetle to a ‘Rolls Royce’! Eedes said that he was honoured to chair the judging panel, and while he may be ‘shot down‘ for the results, having the auditors made the results indisputable. Out of the wine Continue reading →